Thursday, May 30, 2013

Puff, The Magic Cankle.

I looked down at my feet last night after I was home from work and though, "Hmm, that's not normal."

One does not have time to pretty their feet up for the camerawhen there is swelling involved.

Whoooaaaa, there, left foot. What are you doing, buddy?

Up until now, my feet/ankles/anything else hasn't shown any signs of swelling, and I was really digging that. When I saw my endocrinologist on Tuesday, she examined just my feet (well, actually, now that I think about it - she physically examined just my left foot) and had said, "Well, just a little bit puffy." I frowned, and when I came back home asked Aaron to assess my foot size. Second opinion!

We both agreed that my feet didn't really look that different than normal.

Fast forward to last night.

Because calling my doctor would make too much sense, I snapped a picture and sent it to a few friends. "Is this normal? It looks way puffier than the right foot, right? Not just me?" When responses came back in the vein of, "Um, you should probably call your doctor right now", I did. (And for what it's worth, that advice matches up with what the internet says, too.) Being after hours (and in the middle of some severe weather) I spoke to the doctor on call that night, describing my situation (28 weeks, type 1 diabetes, blood pressure has been fine) (except for the first time they checked it at my appointment on Tuesday when it read 154/82, but then they checked it again and it was 122/78) and telling her about this new symptom.

"Does it hurt at all? Does it hurt to walk on?" Nope, feels just like my other foot, except for the part where I can tell that it's puffy.

"If you press your thumb down, does it leave an indention?" Hmm, I hadn't tried that (nor was I completely confident that I could reach my foot). However, I was successful. Indention made, and it stayed put for a second or so.

She ran through a couple other questions, telling me that just one swollen foot or ankle can indicate a blood clot, but since I wasn't exhibiting any of the other symptoms, it perhaps wasn't that. She recommended I keep my feet elevated for the rest of the night, laying on my left side if I could (something about taking the pressure of the uterus off of some veins and stuff), so I happily handed the dinner-assembling reins to Aaron (who made killer sandwiches, btw) and planted myself in our recliner.

I hate reading that you are going through so much, yet at the same time glad to know I can go back and read through your blog when I'm pregnant and know I'm not the only one. Thanks for sharing! I hope everything is okay, no blood clots or anything. Keep us posted.

BOTH of mine would swell, but never just the one. My sis-in-law would have just the one and she would just do as you did and POOF, (well, not poof... but eventually) her foot would go back to normal. There's such a love/hate/worry relationship with pregnancy!

Though it may seem weird I would totally recommend "feet up the wall". We did it in my prenatal yoga class every session and I would do it every time my feet started to puff while pregnant. To be honest, it even feels good when not pregnant. Simply, do your best to get your butt up as close to the wall as possible, feet outward to either direction (both feet together of course) and then turn legs upward to the sky allowing feet & legs to rest flush against the wall (as best as you can). I promise it'll help both the swelling, any anxiety and even back pain! All the very best

Disclaimer.

I have absolutely no medical training of any kind. Nothing on this website should be used as medical or legal advice. Please talk to your physician first before making any changes to anything related to your health.